Written by

Alexis Schulman

Staff Writer

Head coach Jimbo Fisher stressed those words during the week leading up to heading to North Carolina State.

The Seminoles successfully navigated their first road game of the season at USF last Saturday, but face a much more daunting task in this week’s road matchup. The Seminoles must go into Carter-Finely Stadium wearing a suit of proverbial armor. The Wolfpack’s stadium has served as a sort of house of horrors of late for the ’Noles, who have gone 2-3 there since 2002.

The Seminoles cite the atmosphere as well as the home fans’ proximity to the visitor sideline as reasons for making the venue tough to win in. Crowd noise is perhaps the biggest factor, and the team is taking precautions to prepare for such a raucous environment.

“Wednesday and Thursday we’ll crank up the noise,” Fisher said. “But I needed to have one day where I could teach a little bit without getting a headache.”

The Seminoles have already begun getting ready for the upped volume level and Fisher is making quarterback EJ Manuel whisper with his offense this week, so that they become used to having to strain to listen to him and that they focus more closely on what their role is. The ’Noles will also use a silent count.

“It will be loud, and we’ve got to learn to communicate even better,” said center Bryan Stork. “All five of us, there are going to be points in the game when we’re not going to be able to hear each other. We’ve just gotta be able to look at the front and know what we’re going to do.”

Stats of the week

• Florida State has not lost to an in-state opponent in 1,034 days.

• The Seminoles’ No. 3 ranking this week marks the first time the team has been ranked that high since 2003.

• With a win at NC State, the Seminoles will move to 6-0 for the first time since 1999, which is not a bad place to sit, as the ’99 team brought home a National Championship.

Quotables

• “That’s show dog stuff. I mean, it’s wonderful, there’s nothing wrong with [being No. 3], but if we want to stay there, we have to prepare.” —Jimbo Fisher on being ranked No. 3 and the hype around the team

• “Obviously, [Mike Glennon] was saying, ‘oh, we’re going to get the upset,’ so I said, ‘ok, I’ll let my guys know.’ And I talked to [my guys] yesterday and it went over well, so they’re ready for it.” —EJ Manuel joking about texting NC State QB and good friend Mike Glennon, who talked a little smack

• “It seems everybody hates FSU for some reason. I don’t know what those older guys did [here] before me, but they must have made some people mad.” —Lamarcus Joyner joking about going to play in a hostile environment

• “It’s kind of stepping stones, it’s like chopping that wood, chopping down that tree. We just want to continue to keep at it […] you just always want to make progress.”—EJ Manuel on FSU getting closer to its goals this season

From the other camp

• Via Fox Sports South, NC State coach Tom O’Brien called FSU a “different kind of cat” in terms of the challenges the ’Noles present.

• “Well, they are ranked in the Top 5,” NC State offensive tackle R.J. Mattes told The News & Observer. “So obviously they are back to doing something right.”

Cream of the crop

• Dustin Hopkins - ACC Specialist of the Week – The kicker got off to a shaky start, missing a field goal early, but Hopkins recovered and sailed his next three attempts through the posts. The senior scored 12 points and is now second place on the ACC all-time scoring chart.

• Tank Carradine – ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week – Against USF, Carradine continued to post monster numbers at defensive end. The senior led the team with nine tackles and 1.5 sacks. One of his sacks forced the fumble that teammate Christian Jones recovered and ran into the endzone.

• Bryan Stork – ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week – The redshirt junior has led by example all season as the O-Line’s reigning veteran. He did not allow a sack against USF and was not penalized in route to snapping all of FSU’s 67 offensive plays.

Notables

• Rashad Greene became just the first Seminole since Peter Warrick in 1999 to score a touchdown in three different ways—rushing, receiving and on a punt return.

• Florida State managed to get out of USF without any major injuries and just the usual bumps and bruises.